Yes, I am this neurotic. And it's just my opinion that this isn't a case of 'Zalanthas has different physics,' but is more likely a case of people not caring that the inix they were desc'ing would have a shell (made of keratin or bony extensions) but would not have a 'chitinous shell.' A mekillot would not have chitin.
I'm not suggesting that existing instances of the word be corrected, but I wanted to mention this in hopes that builders and staff give it some thought when writing future objects. That Doom Lizard you're building might have a spiked ridge or shell along his back, but it's kinda silly to describe it as chitinous. Insects and other arthropods have chitin, lizards and reptiles just have shells.
To be completely fair, mekillots are giant pill bugs.
(http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/23708/Mekillot.jpg)
Which reptiles are described as having chitin?
edit: Skeet maybe? I think I might remember getting a hunk of chitin off of a skeet before while skinning.
QuoteNormally feeding on tough vegetation and occasionally digging up tubers and the like, skeet are tough-skinned reptiles with a central strip of relatively flexible, yet protective, chitin. They have been known to scavenge, as do almost all Zalanthan beasts (and even a few Zalanthan plants).
Yep, that is weird.
Quote from: RogueGunslinger on April 15, 2015, 07:26:26 PM
Which reptiles are described as having chitin?
The standard inix purchased in Tuluk is desc'ed with a chitin shell IIRC (And inix may still be available after Tuluk closes.) 'Chitin' from skeet lizards is common and found in various armors. Mekillots are described has having chitin in 'help mekillot' which also describes them as 'lizards.'
Also, what's the plural of inix?
Inix.
Technically there's no such things as reptiles anymore either, as it was found to be a polyphyletic group. They didn't want to throw birds in to fix it, so they split the reptiles up into some new categories (one of which has birds).
But that's being pedantic, and also it happened after inix were created in game.
Yeah, back on topic; I imagine that the chitinous shells of inix are actually a generic "shell" item that comes from different animals. Some are insect, some are lizards. I know of several different species that can have their parts broken into the same ingame objects. This might be an artifact of that.
Quote from: Mook on April 15, 2015, 07:34:30 PM
Also, what's the plural of inix?
INXS
/80sreference
Quote from: Mook on April 15, 2015, 07:34:30 PM
Also, what's the plural of inix?
(http://www.puhy.com/data/photos/944_1inxs.jpg)
gmta ;)
Quote from: Mook on April 15, 2015, 07:23:43 PM
Yes, I am this neurotic. And it's just my opinion that this isn't a case of 'Zalanthas has different physics,' but is more likely a case of people not caring that the inix they were desc'ing would have a shell (made of keratin or bony extensions) but would not have a 'chitinous shell.' A mekillot would not have chitin.
I'm not suggesting that existing instances of the word be corrected, but I wanted to mention this in hopes that builders and staff give it some thought when writing future objects. That Doom Lizard you're building might have a spiked ridge or shell along his back, but it's kinda silly to describe it as chitinous. Insects and other arthropods have chitin, lizards and reptiles just have shells.
I generally just chalk it up to the same reason we have feathered snakes, 8 legged lizards, gigantic insects, etc. The same thing that ruined the Known World and turned it into a horrible wasteland probably mutated a lot of wildlife in unnatural ways, and even the wildlife that looks mostly normal has evolved to be highly lethal (or good at something else) to survive.
Maybe they're insect-lizards.
What are turtle shells made out of?
Do salamanders have fingernails?
Turtle shells are made of bone and keratin (thank you wikipedia). I have no idea whether salamanders have fingernails. And feathers are structurally and genetically a variation of scales, so there's nothing very unusual about feathered serpents.
I'm aware of the 'Zalanthan physics!' explanation, but this still seems more like writers using 'chitinous' to mean 'keratinous' without thinking about it, in my humble opinion.
Giant insects that have apparently overcome their surface area to volume ratio -- that's clearly intentional. Magick is clearly intentional. But if a writer is trying to describe a reptile's shell or scales, 'chitin' is (imho) not an accurate word to use.
So...lets replace the descriptive word with scaley and alls well?
Quote from: Mook on April 16, 2015, 02:20:35 PM
Turtle shells are made of bone and keratin (thank you wikipedia). I have no idea whether salamanders have fingernails. And feathers are structurally and genetically a variation of scales, so there's nothing very unusual about feathered serpents.
I'm aware of the 'Zalanthan physics!' explanation, but this still seems more like writers using 'chitinous' to mean 'keratinous' without thinking about it, in my humble opinion.
Giant insects that have apparently overcome their surface area to volume ratio -- that's clearly intentional. Magick is clearly intentional. But if a writer is trying to describe a reptile's shell or scales, 'chitin' is (imho) not an accurate word to use.
The thing is you don't know. We have no idea whether its a mistake or intentional, so why not just treat it as intentional? We got flying lizards, smart spiders, walking bug-giant men, Intelligent Mantis, Psionic tentacled crabs, giant centipedes, pterodactyls, Crystal-hide worms... so on and so on.
Quote from: RogueGunslinger on April 16, 2015, 06:23:46 PM
We have no idea whether its a mistake or intentional, so why not just treat it as intentional?
Why not just treat is as a mistake? ;D
I think that with the quality of writing that Armageddon strives for, this is something that should be changed, unless there is evidence that it was intentional.
Will it break yar immersion if inix shell and skeet bellies and their crafted goods are changed? I hope not and seriously doubt it.
Could things like this make a new player looking at the game think, "Man, I expected better here." Possibly.
Sounds like a good builder project!
What? Why? He have bug-men why can't we have bug-lizards?
Typo it in game and let staff decide whether to take care of it, that's my vote.
I keep reading this thread title as "reptiles don't have chins"
Quote from: Talia on April 16, 2015, 07:07:27 PM
I keep reading this thread title as "reptiles don't have chins"
LOL
Fixed.
Quote from: Nyr on April 16, 2015, 09:17:26 PM
Fixed.
Inix and skeet will now always result in a critical fail when skinned. ;)
Seriously though, that was fast.
Wait, what was the problem again?
For reference:
There were just 4 inix that had the word "chitinous" in their mdesc. There were no skeet with chitinous in the mdesc. There was one mekillot with the word chitinous in the sdesc. There were two such helpfiles referring to said creatures having "chitin."
For the future:
Typo these things in game when you see them, or put in a web site typo/bug/idea request for the helpfiles. These are relatively easy fixes that are just that (typos). In the case of the mekillot, maybe you would prefer to just have us look instead.
Thanks!
Suppose that proves me wrong. :D